pjbooks Chapter 2 Preparing to Make Money
Chapter 2 Preparing to Make Money
In later years, Lin Chuan came across a type of clamp that had a clip on top and a steel cable at the bottom, and it even had an alarm and connected to a cell phone.
He could easily make a simplified version. Although it doesn't have an alarm system, he knows where the wild boar dens are, so he can just check on them every day.
Lin Chuan felt much more at ease and found a scale to weigh the squirrel and the dove.
As expected, one jin (500 grams) equals one harvest point.
After the dove was bled, it was thrown to Lin Feng and Lin Xue, who were watching eagerly as they plucked its feathers.
He skillfully hung the squirrel upside down, made a cut around the base of its tail, and then cut along its back to its neck, breaking the skin but not the flesh.
The rest is simple: tear it by hand, first tear the waist and abdomen, then tear the limbs, turn the limbs over and pull them gently, and finally cut them at the joints.
The head was the most difficult part, requiring him to tear and cut with a blade at the same time, but this was no challenge for Lin Chuan. Before long, all three pieces of skin were perfectly removed.
"Brother, how come you're so smooth?"
"Isn't this something anyone can do? Stop talking nonsense, go pick some chili peppers and scallions, and call Mom back for dinner while you're at it."
After seeing Lin Feng off, Lin Chuan took the opportunity to prepare the skin, scraping off the grease and turning the meat side out.
Tie it flat to the board with a thin rope, turn it over after a couple of days, let it air dry for three to five days, and then it's ready to sell.
Seeing Lin Xue staring at him expectantly, Lin Chuan patted her head:
"Xiaoxue, go start the fire, and I'll make you something delicious."
The rice is ready; it was cooked by Lin Xue.
The best time to work in the summer is in the early morning, when it is cool despite the heavy dew.
In rural areas, most people get up to work as soon as it gets light and come back for breakfast around 8 or 9 a.m.
The task of cooking naturally fell to the children.
Sometimes Lin Chuan and Lin Feng would go to work with their mother, and the task of cooking would be left to Lin Xue.
Despite being only five years old, she has been cooking for half a year and can easily start a fire.
Lin Chuan and his group have two cooking facilities: a stove and a fire pit. The stove is self-explanatory, but the fire pit is a clay ring where firewood is burned.
There is an iron hook above the fire pit, and a pot can be hung on it to make a hanging pot. However, it is mostly used for heating when it is cold.
Fearing that Lin Xue might fall into the fire, her mother only allowed her to use the stove.
Lin Xue is so small that she needs a chair to get onto the stove.
While Lin Xue was tending the fire, Lin Chuan removed the squirrel's internal organs and chopped it into small pieces.
Fresh ones don't need to be blanched; you can just stir-fry them directly.
The vegetable garden was nearby, and Lin Feng returned shortly afterward, having also washed the scallions and chili peppers by the river.
Strangely enough, they grow scallions and ginger here, but it seems that very few people grow garlic, and this has been the case for decades.
Everyone buys garlic, but it often sprouts and isn't eaten much.
Naturally, no one is buying them now, and since there aren't any at home, Lin Chuan didn't care.
After the oil is hot, put the squirrel meat in and stir-fry until the moisture has mostly evaporated. Then add dried ginger, shallots, salt, and chili peppers.
Lin Chuan likes to stir-fry chili peppers until they are fully cooked; he can't stand eating them half-cooked.
After stir-frying for a few more minutes, I added a few pickled peppers, then MSG, soy sauce, and chopped green onions, and then it was ready to serve.
As for other seasonings and spices, we don't have any at home.
Just as the vegetables were cooked, my mother, Wang Xiuxia, came home: "What smells so good?"
Before Lin Chuan could even speak, Lin Feng and Lin Xue started chattering away, recounting the whole story about the squirrel.
"He took down three in one go, that's impressive. Sometimes I can't catch anything even after a whole month of setting traps."
"Mom, you put the condom on wrong. I'll put it on for you again later."
There are no hunters in their area. They live in the low hills of northern Luo County, not in the deep forests of the west and south. Wild boars might only be found in groups on a few hilltops.
Most importantly, their climate is good and suitable for planting. The three treasures of the mountains are persimmons, chestnuts, and sweet potatoes.
Putting everything else aside, in places where persimmons grow, it's rare for people to starve to death.
Without the pressure of basic needs, no one would want to do something as dangerous and demanding as hunting, which requires a lot of investment and yields uncertain results.
However, those who live off the land often fall into traps and snares. Most of them go down the mountain and leave it to fate, their harvest entirely dependent on luck.
If you're unlucky, it's normal to not reap any rewards for a month, or even a year.
The trap set by Wang Xiuxia was made when Lin's father was still alive, and it was already covered in rust.
Wild animals have a keen sense of smell; they will not be fooled by scents that do not belong in the forest.
This requires burning off the rust with a torch, then rolling it in cow dung or mud to mask the smell.
Hmm, Lin Chuan read all of the above in a novel. He doesn't know if it's true or not, as he hasn't tried it.
We'll find out once we try it; it doesn't cost much anyway.
There was only a little fire left in the fire pit, just enough to roast Wang Xiuxia's trouser legs while she ate.
Most wild game doesn't taste very good, but squirrel meat is definitely not one of those. Its meat isn't as tough as other wild game; it's tender and even has a slightly sweet aftertaste.
The pot hung in mid-air, and the family moved quickly. Lin Chuan noticed that his mother was only picking out chili peppers, so he reached out and picked out a few pieces of meat for her.
"Mom, eat some meat. Eating too much chili is bad for your stomach."
Men tend to express their feelings subtly, regardless of the scale of their relationship, especially in rural areas.
Lin Chuan's actions startled his mother. This was the first time Lin Chuan had served her food since he started school at the age of eight, and this simple action left her somewhat at a loss.
Fortunately, children have sharp eyes. When Lin Xue saw Lin Chuan putting food on her mother's plate, she followed suit and put meat into Wang Xiuxia's bowl.
"Mom, eat meat."
Lin Feng, on the other side, paused for a moment with his chopsticks in mid-air before finally retracting them and burying his head in his food.
Wang Xiuxia happily exclaimed twice, "You guys eat, I have some in my bowl, I love spicy food."
After removing the skin, hair, and internal organs, I don't even know if the meat weighed a pound; it didn't amount to much when stir-fried.
At this time, people still ate rice with side dishes, and one bite of side dish could be eaten with several mouthfuls of rice.
The only regret is that I cooked sweet potato porridge for breakfast; otherwise, the taste of this chili with rice would be absolutely amazing.
After finishing the meal, there were still nearly half of the dishes left, and meat still made up the majority of the food.
Lin Chuan didn't say anything about it. Frugality is ingrained in the Chinese people, and it's almost impossible to change it with words.
Changing this is quite simple: just make your life more prosperous.
Decades later, as living standards improved, fewer people were reluctant to eat.
After finishing their meal, Mom went back to work in the fields, taking Lin Feng with her.
Wang Xiuxia rarely asked Lin Chuan to do chores; in her heart, studying was the priority.
Lin Chuan used to accompany them, but not today. Compared to the meager harvest from the fields, hunting wild boars for money was clearly more important.
Lin Chuan asked Lin Xue to start a fire in the yard to burn the traps, while he himself found some wire to make a wire rope.
Ordinary ropes can't trap wild boars. If you catch one and it escapes because of the rope, it's not worth the risk.
After the wire rope is twisted up, the whole thing needs to be burned again, and then it needs to be put into the mud again.
"Brother, what are you doing?"
Lin Xue leaned closer, and Lin Chuan rubbed her head.
"Brother, this is some good stuff. You can use it to catch wild boars and eat meat."